


through the years, we all will be together

by possumdnp



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: 2009, 2019, Christmas, Family Bonding, M/M, outsider pov
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-04
Updated: 2019-12-04
Packaged: 2021-02-26 22:33:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21666559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/possumdnp/pseuds/possumdnp
Summary: Martyn comes home for Christmas in 2009 and finally meets Dan, that guy his brother won’t shut up about. Ten years later, and it’s like Dan’s always been a part of the family.Two of Martyn’s family Christmas celebrations, a decade apart.
Relationships: Dan Howell/Phil Lester
Comments: 29
Kudos: 163
Collections: Phandom Fic Fests Holiday Exchange 2019





	through the years, we all will be together

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ahappyphil](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ahappyphil/gifts).



> A holiday exchange gift for ahappyphil!
> 
> Thank you for such great prompts! It was so hard to choose just one that I ended up combining two of them that I thought went nicely together ("Anything surrounding the Lester family and their relationship with Dan" and “Getting caught at various points in their relationship”). It was a lot of fun to write, so I hope you enjoy! Have a happy holiday season. <3
> 
> Many thanks to my beta, insectbah, for all of the feedback and for helping me out when I got stuck!

**2009**

Martyn sighs contentedly. It feels good to be back in his childhood bedroom. It’s comforting to be surrounded by all the old band posters, the striped wallpaper, and the star stickers on the ceiling. He lays on his bed for a minute, staring up at them like he used to and breathing in the familiar scent of his family’s laundry soap.

He’s always loved Christmas, but he thinks he loves it all the more now that he’s moved away from home. It’s like he gets to go back home to his family and be a kid again for a few days.

Eventually, he decides to head downstairs, where he finds his mum sitting in the lounge reading a book. He knows his dad’s still at work, but Phil is nowhere to be found – a surprise, because normally, his brother is eager to greet him.

“Where’s Phil?” he asks his mum.

She peers at him over her reading glasses. “Outside with Dan. They’re filming some crazy video for that YouTube thing Phil does. Those boys have got their heads in the clouds, I swear.”

“Dan? That friend Phil won’t shut up about? He’s over again?”

She nods. “He’s a lovely boy. You’ll meet him if those two ever come back inside. But they might try and rope you into playing a character if you sit still long enough.”

“What were you then?”

“The fiercest ice demon in all the land.”

He smirks. “Nice. You’ll win an Oscar for sure, Mum.”

He heads over to the window to try and catch a glimpse of what Phil and his friend are up to. There’s a flash of movement, and he sees Phil run across the far end of the snowy garden, closely followed by a boy wearing a fluffy hat who’s holding a video camera. He watches as the boy – Dan – picks up some snow and chucks it at Phil, who shrieks with laughter and throws a snowball right back. Then Phil practically tackles Dan into a hug, nearly knocking him over into a snowdrift, both of them beaming widely.

Martyn smiles. It reminds him of when he and his brother were kids, playing and filming videos in this very same garden. The two of them look like they’re having a lot of fun. Phil’s had a rough go of it lately, what with dealing with the loss of one of his university friends and feeling directionless after graduation. It’s good to see him looking so full of joy for a change.

\---

Martyn meets Dan a little while later when he and Phil come back into the house, dripping with melting snow.

“Take off your boots in the house!” Kath says from her armchair. “For heaven’s sake, child, you know we just had these floors cleaned.”

“Sorry, Mum,” Phil says, toeing off his boots and leaving them in a dripping pile. Dan takes his boots off too, but lines them up neatly next to the door.

“Martyn!” Phil launches himself at his brother. “I haven’t seen you in ages.”

“Jesus, Phil, you’re freezing. And soaking wet, urgh. Get off of me.” Martyn pushes him away playfully.

“And this is Dan. Dan, this is my brother.”

Martyn extends his hand out to shake Dan’s cold, slender hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you from Phil, mate.”

Dan glances down at the floor and bites his lip before saying, “It’s nice to meet you too.” His voice is quieter than Martyn was expecting from the guy he just watched have a boisterous snowball fight with Phil. Maybe he’s just one of those people who takes a bit of time to warm up to others, then.

—-

Martyn had thought that it might be weird, having Phil’s friend around right before Christmas. It’s time for family, after all, not for friends you just met on the internet a few months ago. But Phil makes sure Dan’s filled in on all of the Lester family traditions and explains the backstories behind each handmade ornament on the tree and each picture on the mantle.

Their parents include Dan in everything too; Kath gives him the important task of stirring the bowl when they’re all baking biscuits together, and Nigel asks him which Christmas movie he’d rather watch.

Martyn doesn’t know if he should be doing anything different to include Dan more, but the kid is funny and a polite houseguest, so it’s not like it’s a challenge to include him in everything. He acclimates well to all of their Christmas traditions, even the weird ones, like their overly competitive games of charades.

As it turns out, Phil and Dan are unfairly good at guessing each other’s clues, enough that Dan manages to correctly guess the film _Mothra_ after Phil does some bizzare flapping motion with his hands, points at Dan, and pretends to look scared. Martyn and his parents are left exchanging bemused looks with each other.

During that first night of Dan’s stay, Martyn quickly notices how he and Phil seem to have their own little language. They screech animal noises at each other, and talk about this YouTube thing that they’re both a part of, and they seem to be interested in the same video games and movies. They simply don’t shut up when they’re together, and Martyn doesn’t even understand what they’re talking about half the time.

They’re also very tactile with one another, sitting close together on the sofa, tackling each other playfully, and reaching over to fix each other’s fringes without asking first. He can’t help but notice that Phil acts different with Dan than he ever has with any of his other friends. It makes Martyn wonder if Dan’s really a friend or if he’s something else, but his parents taught him that it’s rude to assume things, so he doesn’t ask.

He can’t read Dan like he can his own brother, but it is obvious how comfortable Dan is around Phil. He’s so animated when it’s just the two of them, talking with sweeping hand gestures and making off-colour jokes.

But Martyn also notices how quickly the switch flips, how closed off Dan gets when he talks to anyone else who’s not Phil. He’s clearly not shy, but it’s almost disconcerting how stiff and overly polite he gets, as if he’s bracing himself for the worst.

—-

On Wednesday, Martyn goes to meet up with some of his secondary school friends over at a local pub for lunch. It’s good to catch up with them, even if it’s weird to think that a couple of them are actually married, and one of them is thinking about having kids soon. He feels entirely too young for that.

Afterwards, he trudges back home through the snow. It had been a proper blizzard outside yesterday; Phil had joked that he must have accidentally brought it on when he wished for snow.

The house is quiet when he gets back, and his parents’ car is out of the driveway, so he figures he must have the house to himself. He hangs up his coat and considers what to do now. He doesn’t know how to handle all of this quietness and free time, honestly. He’s used to noisy flatmates pestering him to do things, or going with Cornelia to concerts or out to eat. But she’s gone back home to visit her own family, and he’s with his. He misses her.

Feeling decidedly lonely, he decides to head to the lounge and watch a movie. But when he turns the corner, he realizes that he’s not alone in this house like he thought.

Because there’s Phil on top of Dan, and they seem to be in the middle of a good make out session. Thankfully, all of their clothes are on, but Martyn’s eyes linger on Dan’s hand, which is groping Phil’s ass under his trousers.

“Oh,” Martyn says stupidly. Even though it’s not exactly a surprise, even if he suspected it, he’s still at a loss for words.

Phil sits up quickly and turns around, his hair a mess. Dan’s hand whips out of the back of Phil’s jeans, and he stares up at Martyn with wide eyes.

“Martyn, what the fuck?” Phil says. “You weren’t supposed to be back until later.”

He blinks. Phil hardly ever curses in front of him, let alone at him. He sounds almost angry.

“I – sorry. I’ll just – I’ll go.”

He turns and heads into the kitchen, away from the awkward situation. He hears the two of them talking in rapid, low voices behind him, but he can’t make out what they’re saying. He doesn’t even want to eavesdrop because he feels kind of shitty for walking in on them like that and making Phil feel like he had to defend himself.

He sits on one of the chairs in the kitchen and stares blankly at the table, his heart beating fast, his throat dry. He hopes that he hasn’t broken some sort of brotherly trust by being a bumbling idiot. Mostly, he wonders why Phil hasn’t told him any of this before, wonders if Phil didn’t trust him enough to share this part of himself.

Phil comes into the kitchen a few minutes later, wearing a closed-off expression. His hands are shoved into his pockets. Dan’s not with him, and Martyn doesn’t ask. He just waits for Phil to speak.

Phil’s eyes dart all over the room, until finally settling on Martyn. He takes a deep breath. “So I’m gay. And me and Dan are together. _Obviously.”_

“I kinda figured, actually? That you were dating Dan. And maybe the gay thing too, I dunno.” He’s stumbling over his words, and he hopes he’s not being absurdly offensive.

Phil blinks. “What? You knew about me and him?”

He shrugs. “You seem like you really fancy each other. Just watching you two spend time together and how you look at each other. I’ve never seen you look like that before, Phil. Plus you’ve talked to me about him every time I’ve called you the past few months. _And_ Mum says he’s been here like five times already since October.”

Phil shuffles his feet. “Being in a long distance relationship is hard,” he mumbles. “And I do really fancy him.”

“I know.” Martyn puts a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

“And you knew I was gay?”

“I dunno. I guess maybe I thought so sometimes. Like, you’ve never really had a girlfriend.”

“Do you think Mum and Dad know?” Phil whispers.

Martyn blinks, confused. “They don’t know already?”

“No? Why the hell would they know?” Phil starts to laugh, and then cry, and Martyn pulls him into a hug. Phil’s taller than he is, but in this moment, it feels like when they were young, and he had to comfort Phil over something mean the older kids said to him.

“I’m just worried,” Phil says, wiping at his face. “Dan – he didn’t have the happiest time growing up. I just want him to feel happy and welcome here, and what if Mum and Dad don’t accept him? Or me?” His body is trembling under Martyn’s hands, and he squeezes him tighter. “I was worried you wouldn’t either.”

“I’m not a dick, Phil. You’re my brother no matter who you fancy.”

Phil lets out a sob, and Martyn feels his heart break just a bit.

—-

Soon after, Phil runs up to his room to wash his face and sort himself out, and Martyn heads back into the lounge. Dan’s still sitting there, curled into himself, looking dejected. For such a tall guy, he looks so small in this moment.

“Hey, Dan.”

Dan startles and turns to face him. “Hi.”

“Listen, I’m really sorry I walked in on you and Phil. I didn’t mean to scare you. Honestly, I thought I was alone in the house. Suppose you did too.”

Dan nods. He’s chewing at the skin of his thumb, not meeting Martyn’s gaze.

Martyn takes a deep breath to steady himself. “I wasn’t kidding when I said that Phil talks about you a lot. He’s been really happy since he met you. Like, happier than I’ve seen him in a long time.”

“Really?” Dan says quietly.

“Really. I was actually sorta nervous about meeting you, you know? I didn’t want to fuck it up, ‘cause I knew Phil cared about you. Even if I didn’t know he cared about you, like, you know. In a boyfriend way.”

Dan looks him in the eye for the first time. “I love him a lot.”

“I love him too. I mean. Not in the same way as you, obviously. That would be weird.”

Dan lets out an unattractive snort of laughter at that, and Martyn grins.

“I dunno if it’s weird to say, but I’m glad my brother met you. I know I don’t know you very well yet, but I hope you’ll stick around.”

“That’s the plan.”

—-

Dan scurries off upstairs to join Phil shortly after. Martyn doesn’t see either of them until dinnertime, but they look decidedly happier when they emerge back downstairs.

“What’ve you boys been up to today?” Nigel asks, and Phil and Dan exchange a quick glance.

“We’re still working on the Christmas Adventure video. We edited it this afternoon. It’s gonna be so cool, Dad. I’ll let you watch it after we’re done.” Martyn notices how smooth Phil is, keeping his tone light and cheery despite what really transpired today.

As his father and Phil carry on a conversation about the video, Martyn catches Dan’s eye across the table, and Dan gives him a small smile. Martyn thinks that maybe that means he’s forgiven for all the awkwardness of this afternoon. Not that he would have _ever_ chosen to find out about his brother’s new relationship by walking in on it, god no. But the resulting conversations did break the ice a little, he thinks. And he can’t bring himself to regret that.

—-

Dan goes home on Christmas Eve, and Phil is quiet for the rest of the day. It’s such a contrast to when he was a child, bouncing off the walls and asking to open just one present early, or wanting to sneak another biscuit.

Today, he’s sat in the chair in the corner, staring forlornly at his phone, occasionally typing out a message and smiling when his text tone sounds.

“Hey, Dibbit.”

Phil looks up at his childhood nickname. “What?”

“You miss Dan, don’t you?”

He sighs and looks down at his phone. “That obvious, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“I liked meeting him. He’s a good kid.”

“Don’t call him a kid.”

“All right, _kid.”_ He ruffles Phil’s hair, but doesn’t even get rewarded with the usual squawk of protest. Phil must really feel down.

“You gonna tell Mum and Dad?”

Phil shrugs. “Pretty rubbish Christmas gift to give them, isn’t it?”

“No. They just want you to be happy. Just like I do.”

Phil doesn’t answer to that and just stares glumly down at the dark screen of his phone instead. The text tone hasn’t sounded for several minutes; Dan must be busy doing something else. Martyn knows how it feels to miss someone, even when you’re surrounded by other people you love. Right now, with Cornelia all the way in Sweden, he’s feeling something similar.

“Hey. You up for a round of Bubble Bobble?” Martyn asks, because he knows that sometimes, video games are the best medicine. Maybe they both need a distraction today.

Phil finally looks up from his phone, blinking his too-long fringe out of his eyes. “Only if I get to be player one.”

“You’re on, mate.”

**2019**

“It feels good to have all my children back again,” Kath says. They’re sat around the kitchen table, enjoying a home-cooked meal together.

“It feels great to be here again,” Dan says, taking a bite of vegetable lasagna.

“You have to show us pictures of your Japan trip,” Nigel says. “We want to go there one day, don’t we, Kath?”

Dan excitedly pulls his phone out of his pocket and starts showing them photos. Martyn sits back and eats some bread. He’d already seen the pictures when they’d taken him and Cornelia out to dinner as a thank you gesture for taking care of their fish for a few weeks.

“And here’s the fancy restaurant we went out to one night.”

“Oh my god, it was so amazing,” Phil groans.

“Have you finally figured out how to use chopsticks, then, Phil?” Cornelia teases.

“Nope. I swear to god, he’s the most uncoordinated human being I’ve ever met,” Dan says, and Phil grins sheepishly.

“That’s my boy,” Nigel says, patting Phil on the back. “I’ve never been able to use chopsticks either.”

“I don’t think that’s really something to be proud of, Nigel,” Kath says.

Dan flips through a few more photos.

“Oh, and this is that cool garden we went to,” Phil says. “It had a giant koi pond.”

“Phil wants a koi pond in our garden. One fish isn’t enough for him.”

“Hope you’re ready for more grandfish, Mum and Dad,” Phil says seriously, and Martyn nearly chokes on his bread. _Grandfish._ Bloody hell, his brother is ridiculous.

\---

Holidays are a time for sleeping in and being lazy with your partner on the sofa in your pyjamas. They’re for having your parents cook you breakfast, even though you’re in your thirties and are perfectly capable of doing it yourself. Even though his mum and dad have moved out of the house he grew up in, Martyn still feels a sense of nostalgia every time Christmas rolls around again.

His parents must too, because it’s just not Christmas if his mum isn’t wearing her light-up reindeer antlers, or if his dad isn’t sneaking another biscuit from the kitchen, or if the whole family’s not being roped into doing some family bonding activity.

“One of you go find your brother and Dan,” Kath says. “We’re about to play Who Wants to be a Millionaire.”

“I’m too comfortable to move,” Cornelia says. She nudges Martyn’s leg with her toes. “You go find them.”

He shrugs and stands up. He can’t find them on the first floor, so they must still be in bed, having a bit of a lie-in.

He knocks on the door of the room that Phil and Dan always stay in when they visit the north. “Are you two decent?” He knows from experience to ask and not just barge in; with all the traveling and living in close quarters they’ve done together over the past decade, he’s accidentally walked in on them in various states of undress far too many times.

“Your mum isn’t decent,” Dan says loudly through the closed door.

“And no, we’re not,” Phil says. “Don’t come in.”

“Well, sort yourselves out then. Mum wants to play a game.” He hears them laughing to themselves on the other side of the door, off in their own little world like they always have been. He rolls his eyes and heads downstairs.

Who Wants to be a Millionaire is as fun and frustrating as it always is. They lose at the £500,000 level, and then at the £100,000 level the next time around, when they get an impossible question about architecture.

It’s raining outside, so once they shut down the PlayStation, they decide to stay in and have a proper board game day – Cranium followed by Settlers of Catan, and all before tea time.

Martyn and Phil both get unlucky with their numbers during Catan, and both suffer a landslide defeat to the others. Like they’re kids again, they band together and complain about how unfair the game is, much to the amusement and annoyance of their parents and partners.

Cornelia ends up beating Dan by just one point, and after the game gets put back into its box, they decide to take a break for tea. Nigel enlists Phil’s help, and Martyn watches as his dad and brother bring steaming mugs of tea and a plate of biscuits to the table.

“When did you say your flight was, Dan?” Kath asks. “We’ll drop you off at the airport, of course.”

“It’s at ten in the morning on Tuesday,” he says, stirring sugar into his tea.

“You should stay for Christmas sometime,” Kath says, as she does every year. “We wouldn’t mind having you.”

“I know. I actually want to visit my family this year though,” Dan says with a small smile. He seems remarkably calm when he says it. Martyn remembers how in years past, Dan would politely shut down conversations about going back to see his family, and would make jokes about how he hoped his flight back would get canceled. “Mostly, I just want to see Colin. You know, if you got a dog, I might actually consider staying.”

Nigel laughs. “Well, I’m betting Phil will wear you down and you’ll have a dog by this time next year.”

“Yeah,” Martyn says. “And if you bring the dog along, you’ll have no choice but to stay with us.”

Dan rolls his eyes. “Phil gets his logic from you two, I swear.”

\---

Martyn comes downstairs the next morning to see Phil sitting at the kitchen table, typing furiously away on his laptop. Dan’s reading over his shoulder, sipping a cup of coffee, sometimes quietly saying something to Phil.

“Working over the holidays, Phil?” Martyn says, opening the cupboard and grabbing a mug so that he can make himself his own cup of coffee.

“Responding to this email from Chris. She’s gotten some messages from people who still haven’t gotten their orders from the US shop. She wanted to know what was up, like if they’d get their stuff before Christmas, or what she should tell them.”

Martyn pours some coffee, then heads over to the table to sit down next to Phil. “Just tell her to contact David. He’d know better than us what’s up. But it’s such a busy time of the year. The post is probably just delayed.”

“That’s what I thought too,” Dan says, as they both watch Phil send the email and start scrolling through the rest of his inbox

“I thought you weren’t going to work so much from now on,” Martyn says.

Dan snorts. “This _is_ him not working so much.”

Phil sighs. “Okay.” He shuts the laptop and pushes it away. “No more work today. We can do something fun instead.” He brightens up. “Maybe we could make a nice dinner for Mum and Dad tonight.”

“I thought we just clarified that you’re not a workaholic.”

Phil laughs. “You’re right. It _would_ be less work for us to pester them into taking us out to eat instead.”

(They do, and Kath and Nigel are feeling so sentimental about having all of their children back around again that they let them all order fancy drinks _and_ dessert.)

\---

Some things will never change, like the way Dan and Phil have always carried on conversation and stories like there’s no one else in the room, like they’re actually sharing a single train of thought. Martyn supposes that’s what has made them good at their job for all these years.

Some things do change though. He really notices it when they all go for a walk along the Isle of Man’s rocky coast, and Phil gets ahead of him. He stares at his brother’s back, watches him walk.

Phil now moves with a confidence that Martyn’s never really seen in him before. He’s always known his brother to slouch a bit, or do weird things with his hands. But now, home for the holidays with his family, breathing in the cold air, Phil’s striding along the path, looking out across the ocean like he could conquer the whole world if he just tried hard enough.

His hair is now the same colour it used to be when they were kids, and it keeps making Martyn do a double take whenever he glances at him. The reddish brown makes him look simultaneously more familiar and more like a stranger to Martyn, makes him wonder if they’ve somehow gone back in time to when they were young and had never left the comfort of home.

He hears footsteps behind him, and he turns to see Dan coming up behind him. “I suppose I’m walking with you now. Phil’s too far ahead to catch up. Stop to tie your shoe and he’ll just leave you behind. I’ve never felt more betrayed in my life.”

“Wow, I can’t believe I’m here to witness such a tragic event,” Martyn says, and Dan laughs, the lines by his eyes crinkling.

Dan is another person who Martyn has seen change quite a lot, even in just this past year alone. He looks lighter than he had last Christmas, like he’s not carrying the whole world on his shoulders. He smiles and jokes easily and is quick to offer a helping hand or a hug to any one of the Lesters.

Compared to how he was when they first met each other, it’s like Dan is an entirely different person sometimes: a happier, calmer one. He’s grown up a lot.

“It’s crazy that you’ve been with my brother for ten years,” Martyn says. “That I first met you ten years ago now.” His breath puffs in a cloud of fog in front of him.

Dan elbows him lightly. “Getting sentimental on me, Martyn?”

“Me and Cornelia have been together for ten years too. It’s a sentimental year all around, I reckon.”

“Remember when you walked in on me and Phil making out?” Dan says.

“Which time?” Martyn asks with a cheeky grin, and Dan glares at him.

“Like, a day after I met you. Here I was, desperately wanting to impress Phil’s family even though you guys didn’t know me and him were together, and then you walked in, and I was convinced you actually hated me.”

“I could never hate you. Unless you murdered Phil or something.”

“I mean, it might happen one of these days. He’s very annoying to live with. So messy. I suppose you would know that, though.”

Martyn snorts. “I did grow up with him, you know.”

Dan looks out over the sea. Martyn follows his gaze and watches several flocks of gulls soar by. There’s a few boats out in the water, bobbing along and braving the cold weather.

_“Ten years_ though,” Dan says after a while, turning back to Martyn. “I just can’t believe I used to think you were really cool when I first met you.”

_“Used to_ think?”

“Yup. Now I know you’re just a sappy, sentimental loser like me and Phil. You scrapbook all your old concert tickets, and you have to take a nightlight with you when you travel.”

“Oi. You’re scared of the dark just like me. _And_ I remember you saying you were glad I had it when we stayed at that haunted Airbnb.”

“That place was the fucking worst.”

They’re quiet for a long while, just listening to the sound of the crashing waves, the rocks crunching under their feet, and the seagulls calling to each other. Martyn takes a deep breath of the fresh seaside air. It’s so refreshing to be on this island and not breathing in the smog of London for a change. He’s glad it’s not raining and they can enjoy this walk for as long as they want to.

“So what did you think you’d end up doing with your life ten years ago, then?” Dan asks.

“I dunno what I thought I’d be doing, really. Probably music stuff. Definitely never thought I would own a company with my dorky brother and that kid he brought home one Christmas.”

“Rude.”

Martyn looks down the trail. Phil’s walking with Cornelia now, both of them bundled up against the cold. They’re wearing matching bobble hats from Auntie Roz, the same kind he and Dan are wearing. “But I reckon my life’s turned out pretty good so far.”

Dan smiles. “Mine has too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Reblog on tumblr [here!](https://possumdnp.tumblr.com/post/189981601595/through-the-years-we-all-will-be-together-t)


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